NYC shootings at record low so far this year, officials say

There have been fewer shootings in New York City in the first two months of this year than in the same period in “recorded history,” according to Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD officials.

Adams and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the NYPD’s focus on seizing illegal guns is helping drive down shootings and homicides across the five boroughs. NYPD officers have removed 1,000 illegal guns from city streets since the start of the year, officials said.

Last month, Adams and Tisch said officers removed more than 20,000 illegal firearms from city streets since Adams took office in 2021.

“Each of these guns represents a potential tragedy averted and life saved,” Tisch said in a statement Monday after a press conference in East New York, Brooklyn.

In January and February, shooting incidents in the city declined more than 20% compared to the same months last year, according to crime statistics cited by Tisch. The downward trend was also true for major crime complaints citywide, which have fallen more than 14% in February compared to the same period last year, according to the statistics.

“When you deploy well-trained officers to the right areas, New Yorkers can see and feel the difference,” Adams said in a statement, touting the number of gun busts since the start of the year.

The NYPD began recording and analyzing crime statistics through its system, CompStat, beginning in 1994.

In addition to Tisch, Adams was joined at the press conference by Chief of Department John Chell and Kaz Daughtry, the deputy mayor for public safety.

Adams did not take off-topic questions, but responded to a reporter asking about his challengers in the upcoming Democratic primary, who have criticized his public safety record

Adams accused his critics of pushing a “narrative” that is harmful to the city.

“If you are team New York, you should be accurate in your assessment and not dump on New York, but lift New York up,” he said.